ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to answer the question: What are the implications of varied but related characterizations of the purpose of creation for a natural theology of the arts; by considering the implications of understanding creation teleological, that is, as a particular, purposeful process rather than as a one-shot deal. As the true form of natural theology it leads to Christ whose life, death, and resurrection have exactly this function. If natural theology is a remainder left over from the paradisal knowledge of God, it is then at the same time an anticipation of knowledge of God in glory. The trinitarian explication of the concept of divine love avoids misconceptions. Hence, the biblical concept of creation needs a trinitarian basis if it is to be proof against misunderstandings and shortsighted criticism. It is from this Trinitarian basis that Pannenberg easily derives the purposeful, that is, eschatological character of creation.
